Friday night’s Final Four game between UConn and Iowa was the most-watched women’s college basketball game of all time as its peak of 17 million viewers surpassed the viewership records set by Iowa-LSU just days ago.
According to ESPNwhere the game was broadcast, UConn-Iowa averaged 14.3 million viewers, which also represents the highest audience for any ESPN basketball game ever.
The game is also ESPN’s second-best non-soccer telecast ever, surpassed only by the U.S. Men’s National Team’s match against Portgual at the 2014 World Cup (18.2 million viewers).
Just Monday, Iowa and LSU set a women’s basketball viewing record when an average of 12.3 million viewers tuned in to their Elite 8 game.
To put UConn-Iowa in perspective, it saw more viewers than every World Series and NBA Finals game last year, and all but five college football games in 2023, since Richard Deitsch of The Athletic pointed out.
A peak of 17.3 million tuned in to watch Paige Bueckers (center) and Caitlin Clark (right)
Iowa helped set a women’s basketball viewership record against LSU a few days earlier
On Friday, Iowa came from behind to beat UConn after a slow start from Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark.
Clark, who was named AP Player of the Year for the second straight season, had just six points in the first half but came alive in the second half, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Iowa is still looking for its first national championship after falling to LSU in the finals last year, and will battle South Carolina for the crown on Sunday.
That game will also be a repeat of last year’s national semifinal, which Iowa won 77-73.
South Carolina, the 2017 and 2022 champions, advanced to the finals by defeating NC State 78-59.
That game drew less than half the viewership of UConn-Iowa (7.1 million people), but was still the third-best women’s national semifinal ever, according to ESPN.
